Iced Pumpkin Cookies

YUMM!!! Pumpkin cookies a sure sign it's fall!

1 c. (2 cubes) unsalted butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 c. flour

1 ts. baking soda

1 ts. cinnamon

1/2 ts. salt

1/2 ts. pumpkin pie spice (I used 1/2 ts. freshly ground nutmeg instead)

1 c. chopped pecans (+ more for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer, combine butter, sugar, and pumpkin and mix until combined. The mixture will look lumpy. Add egg and mix well.

Sift dry ingredients together, then add with pecans to pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl as you go.

Drop by tablespoons onto lightly oiled (or parchment-covered) cookie sheets and bake until barely golden, 10-12 minutes. You don’t want them squishy in the middle (like chocolate chip cookies) but you don’t want to overbake them, either.

Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes, then ice them when they are still warm (not hot, not cold).

For icing:

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

3 Tb. butter

4 ts. milk

1/2 ts. vanilla

1 c. sifted powdered sugar

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, and milk over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.

With a knife or spreader, spread about a teaspoon of icing over each cookie. It should run down the sides a little bit, but not be runny. If you want to garnish with chopped pecans, do this right away while the icing is still warm, otherwise the nuts won’t stick. So I usually ice 2 or 3 cookies, sprinkle with nuts, then keep going.

If the icing stiffens up before you’ve had a chance to ice all the cookies, you can gently rewarm it on the stovetop for a minute or two so it’s spreadable again.

**This recipe is word for word from In Praise of Leftovers**